Happy Monthiversary

Before I carry on, don’t worry – I’m not going to be shouting out every monthiversary, (although I might have a teeny tiny shout out at the anniversary – that’s allowed, right?).

But this is the very first monthiversary for my very first book, so it feels right to mark the occasion with a blog post.

It’s been an odd month. Preparing for the launch was stressful – even though it was only a social media launch, and even though I thought I was prepared. Things went a little wrong on the day – technical hitches meant the newsletter that should have gone out at 7am went five hours later, some of the linked launch work didn’t link, and so on…

But it was also an exhilarating day – I was absolutely gob-smacked by all the really lovely likes, shares, comments, tweets, retweets, email messages and of course actual sales on the day – it took my breath away a little bit.

So the first thing I want to do, now that I’ve had a chance to reflect, is to say THANK YOU for all your support and encouragement – it really does mean a lot to me.

At the same time as the book launch was going on, I was also being interviewed for a new contract (which I’m now in), and I celebrated both my birthday and the wedding of two very dear friends.

That’s a lot of highs for one girl for one month.

After such a lot of such exceptional highs, I guess it’s only natural to hit a low. It’s not a ‘proper’ low – I think it’s just more of an adjustment to day-to-day life. But it’s taking me a while to get back into things.

So the second thing I need to do is issue you, my lovely blog friend, an apology – I know I’ve been a little bit hit and miss this last month. And although I can hear you saying “S’ok Heena, I understand.”, I want to say to you “I’m sorry – my bad, I’ve slipped a bit – now you know why, and I’m getting back on track.”

It’s not just you either, I’ve neglected poor Simba dreadfully during launch time. Luckily for me (with the aid of many many treats and some extra walks), he’s forgiven me, and we’re getting back on track too (in fact, after I’ve finished the blog, it’s going to be pooch playtime – yay!).

And the third thing I need to do – which is important for me, and might be useful for you to remember when you find yourself in the middle of a whirlwind – is go easy on myself.

It feels odd to say that, and especially to say it out loud. But I have to practice what I preach (in print, in the book – eek!) – and what I preach is that you have to be your own best friend. Best friends don’t beat each other up because life has gotten busy and things have slipped for a while. They don’t make each other feel guilty for things that are out of their control. They don’t keep reminding you of all the things you should have done but haven’t.

They don’t do anything like that – they’re kind, supportive and understanding. They cheer you on, bolster you up and hand you a large glass of wine when necessary (which, FYI, is always).

So I’m going to be my own best friend and stop choosing to feel guilty for letting things slip in an exceptionally busy month. Instead, I’m going to celebrate the first monthiversary of the launch of my book by sharing a cute pic of the pooch with the book, with you – Happy First Monthiversary!